Honolulu Community College to bring communication technology to local students

HONOLULU (May 15, 2012) - Expanding the “world’s largest classroom,” Cisco will open the doors to its newest Cisco Networking Academy in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, on May 18, 2012 to provide skills and training for those interested in pursuing a career in information and communication technology (ICT). In conjunction with the University of Hawai‘i, the Networking Academy® program at Honolulu Community College will teach students how to design, build, manage, and secure computer networks to help them attain fulfilling, successful careers and to ensure a steady supply of trained ICT professionals across the world.

“There is an unprecedented global demand for trained information and communication technology professionals, increasing job opportunities for people worldwide,” said Amy Christen, Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Networking Academy at Cisco. “Networking Academy combines classroom instruction and online curricula with hands-on learning activities to help students develop the knowledge and skills required to succeed in a technology-driven world. Cisco is excited to partner with the University of Hawai‘i to bring the benefits of an ICT education to more Hawai‘i students.

Since its inception in 1997, the Cisco® Networking Academy program has trained more than four million students in 10,000 academies located in 165 countries. Through the use of cloud-based curricula and content, hundreds of thousands of students each year leave the program with newly-developed skills in problem solving, collaboration and critical thinking, in addition to expertise on the latest ICT technology innovations. Networking Academy gives students the opportunity to become experts in current technologies such as cloud computing, and to learn though online courses and assessments, simulation-based learning, business networking scenarios, and game-based learning.

The University of Hawai‘i will partner with Cisco by providing classroom space, computer lab equipment, and qualified instructors for the Honolulu Community College Networking Academy. Cisco will provide free online curricula, teacher training, and professional development for instructors who then help students prepare to assume entry-level ICT jobs, pursue additional training or education, and earn globally-recognized certification.

"The Cisco Networking Academy at Honolulu Community College is taking another exciting step forward in our efforts to become one of the best-performing college systems in the nation,” said University of Hawai‘i System President M.R.C. Greenwood. “This Academy, along with our success in securing the largest workforce development grant in the country last fall, a $24.6 million Community College and Career Training grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, will help prepare our workforce for good-paying jobs of the future that will require the state of the art technology support, training and computer networking skills this Academy will offer our students. It is a partnership we delight in celebrating!”

Greenwood’s successful track record of working with Cisco Systems in her role as chancellor of the University of California at Santa Cruz will continue with the University of Hawai‘i’s Honolulu Community College's new role as a Cisco Academy Support Center (ASC) and Cisco Instructor Training Center (ITC).

Since 1998, Honolulu CC has served as a leader in the Pacific Rim for Cisco Academy instructor training, and is one of only three U.S. sites to be sanctioned to train instructors on both the associate and professional levels of Cisco industry certification. The selection of Honolulu CC to serve as both support and training centers enables the UH System to continue to be a leader in this industry and serve as a support center for Cisco Academies across the Central Pacific.

In the last 14 years, Honolulu CC faculty have provided on-site international training for initial cohorts of Cisco Academy instructors in Italy, Mexico, Taiwan, Singapore, China, and Japan. Honolulu CC has also provided distance education for instructors in Europe, Asia and North America as the role of remote lab environments and voice/video collaboration tools expands. Cisco Systems deems Honolulu CC to be a natural choice as both a support and training center because of its exemplary history of providing support and instructor training to Cisco Academies locally and abroad.

Networking Academy is Cisco's largest and longest-running corporate social responsibility program. It prepares students from diverse backgrounds for careers in a burgeoning ICT field. Networking Academy uses a public-private partnership model to create the “world’s largest classroom”, provide ICT education to help people prepare to work with the networks that form the backbone of today’s—and tomorrow’s— global society.